A Second Chance
by Rayne Callaway
Summary: This is after Hogwarts and Hermione meets someone who she hasn't seen for a long time. HGVK and AU after hbp and revamped
1. A Chance Meeting

Ok this is my first Harry Potter fanfiction so please bear with me. I owe a whole lot to my Beta Reader. SO THANK YOU. This is the prolougue to the story. Beta Reader: Anima Lorraine

disclaimer: i don't own any of the harry potter characters or anything connected to it

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Hermione Granger Apparated by the security desk at the Ministry of Magic. She handed the ancient wizard at the desk a letter from Dumbledore. 

"I am here for the required training to become a professor at a school for magic," the twenty-something, bushy-haired, no-nonsenseGranger said flatly.

"Three floors up and then follow the signs to room 267. Here's your temporary pass. Keep it with you; you won't get a new one should you lose it." The cross guard growled without lifting his head. With a hiss, a pass spat out from the cold, gray desk.

As Hermione left the desk, she heard the fragments of a disgrunted mumble with words like "youth", "idiots", "lost", and "hassle".

Hermione walked quickly to the elevator. Refusing to lift her eyes, she mumbled "Department of International Magical Cooperation, please." She had learned that keeping her head down and hiding her face from people was easier than answering all their questions about Harry Potter

An eerily familiar voice said, "Department of Magical Law Enforcement, please."

Hermione looked up only to find two pools of dark water staring back into her eyes. "Viktor Krum? Viktor, is that you?" Hermione asked shocked.

"Herm-own-ninny?"

"Viktor, I haven't seen you in such a long time. What are you doing here?" the girl cried excitedly.

"I haff quit Quidditch. Something happened andI haffdecided to become an auror," Krum said with a sort of sadness hidden is his eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"Professor McGonagall has retired, so I am replacing her," Hermione answered.

"Department of International Magical Cooperation all off please," the cool female voice said.

"Maybe I'll see you later, Viktor," Hermione said as she and some memos left the elevator.

"Yeah maybe," Viktor's voice rang with his thick Bulgarian accent as the elevator's door shut and he lost sight of his lost love.

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So this is the first chapter. If you like it leave a review if you would. 


	2. Understanding

Thanks to my reviewers and my beta.

Disclaimer: All I own is Echo Narcula, Trabou, and the plot.

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Hermione's brown eyes looked up thoughtfully at the building that had been her home for seven years. It was to be her home again. Her body was warmed at the thought. With a trembling hand, she pushed open the heavy door to the hopefully happy future. She was amazed at how little the school had changed. It even smelled the same, the smell of old books and delicious cooking. Peeves could be seen zooming backwards at the top of the stairs. Even though she had never been at the school during the summer, the look was the same as it always was. 

The new teacher was to go straight to Professor Dumbledore's office. When she reached the gargoyle, she shyly muttered the password. Arriving in his office, she noticed four chairs situated in front of his desk. "Ah, Hermione, it is wonderful to see you walk these halls again. If you will wait for one moment for the others to join us, I do believe Severus is at the gargoyle now."

Dumbledore was, of course, correct. Severus Snape strode into Dumbledore's office with that hideous sneer on his face. About five minutes after the Potions Master made his dramatic entrance, a tall girl with wavy brown hair entered the room. Her long hair, reaching to the middle of her back, was streaked with a seemingly vibrant red. She was wearing a royal blue robe and when she opened her eyes emeralds sparkled and laughed at you. Hermione was given this feeling of strength and ease at an intensity she hadn't felt since the return of Voldemort.

"Miss Narcula, Welcome to Hogwarts," Dumbledore greeted the girl.

"Thank you. Please call me Echo." The woman spoke with a voice that had the slightest hint of a Spanish accent. Her smile was worn with some mystery in it that made you want to know more about her.

"I think we may start now." Dumbledore said his eyes housing his usual twinkle. "Echo will be our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

"I am the Potions Master here. If things were in my favor however, I would have your job." Severus said in the same disgusted tone he said everything in.

"Miss Hermione Granger will take over as the Transfiguration teacher and Severus will be the new Deputy Headmaster, should he except the position." Dumbledore continued, "Do you except?"

"Yes, Albus and I am, of course, greatly honored." The icy Potions Master accepted with a nod of his head.

"I apologize for our lack of punctuality, Headmaster." A tall, dark-haired, dark-eyed man said. "The Ministry saddled me with an apprentice. Krum, get out here." The man snarled over his shoulder.

"Mister Trabou, welcome. Mister Krum, I am pleased to see you again as well. Allow me to draw you a chair." Albus did just that and when the chair fell to the floor with a thud, he continued. "In light of the situation with Voldemort, the new Minister has decided that Hogwarts should have an auror around. Especially perhaps after my appointment of Hermione. Her friendship with Harry Potter has made her a target for Death Eaters"

"So, who are all of you?" Trabou's deep voiced boomed. He had a blonde hair that seemed to slick and right to be natural. He was of medium height and large build. His eyes are what scared you. His eyes were an odd green with a red tint woven in the green. When you looked into them, you felt like he was privy to your every secret, like he could burn your brain with those eyes.

"My name is Echo Narcula, and these two are Hermione Granger and Severus Snape." The Spanish rose boldly spoke up. She missed the glaring stare that Severus shot her.

"Well, I will give you more information when we meet with the rest of the faculty. You are all free to go. Please join the rest of the staff at dinner tonight." The boyish Headmaster dismissed them and they all with the exception of the new Deputy Headmaster filed out of Dumbledore's office. The old man got up and walked to Fawkes' cage. "It'll be good to have some youth in these halls again." He sighed some of his age showing through the sparkle.

"Too bad the youth had to be friends with Potter." The misplaced discontent was threatening to overflow.

"She is a teacher now. Try and give her some understanding. She has given it to you. Miss Echo is only a youth as well."

"Understanding. That isn't very easy to give for me. Understanding is what landed me into the role of Death Eater. Miss Echo is a presumptuous creature who needs to understand her place." Snape responded with his back turned.

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"I'm so glad that someone my age is a teacher here. I was worried it would be like Modigestaver in Norway, where all the teachers were around 65 except for one, me, who they kept around for protection against age discrimination." Echo explained to Hermione. 

"Dumbledore is fair to everyone. Where did you get the accent? It is hardly noticable, but it gives your voice a slight edge of mystery." Hermione said while twirling a piece of her bushy hair around a slim finger. "Besides us, there has been only one other change to the staff since I was here. My flying instructor, Madame Hooch died and was replaced. I am not sure who replaced her. I will give you some warning: steer clear of Trelawney. She is the Divination teacher and is quite deplorable." Hermione said bitterly.

"I was born in Spain and lived there until I graduated. I was never one for Divination. I thought it was ridiculous unless you were a creature who was made to understand it and man simply wasn't made for that purpose." Echo reasoned.

"I can't believe I am going to be living here again. This was one of the places I almost always felt safe and well at. I will need to stop by Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. Want to join me?"

"I would love to. I haven't been in this country for a very long time and don't really know my way around. I am waiting for a shipment though so we can't leave until I get it ok? It should come early."

"That's fine. Lets go find our rooms. Hermione said still reminiscing about her days at Hogwarts.


	3. Library

Disclaimer: I don't own anything associated with Harry Potter

Thanks to my beta Kate Glasgow.

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Krum walked moodily behind the person who he was going to have to suck up to for the next year. He kept his dark eyes on the stone floor as he walked. The hair that fell into his eyes annoyed him enough to make him think about cutting it. Viktor does this often but it never means anything. Ever since he first decided to let his hair grow out, he has been thinking about cutting it.

"I guess we should find our rooms," Trabou said, breaking the Bulgarian from his reverie.

"Vhatever," Viktor replied nonchalantly. He continued to trudge behind the more experienced Auror. As he trudged, Viktor remembered a sadder time when he had walked these halls. Cedric's body had looked so real. Just like it was sleeping. Trabou stopped suddenly, causing Krum to tumble to the cold floor.

"Dumbledore said my room was up this flight of stairs, yours is the next staircase to the left." Trabou left quickly,and without a second glance to his so called"apprentice".

Krum continued to go straight after he had passed the staircase he was told would lead him to his room. He looked lovingly at the worn portraits and rusted armor that decorated the halls of his temporary home. He took the next flight of stairs down and found himself at the library. He walked in and went straight to the table that he had monopolized when he first became so attracted to the girl he would now be working with.

Viktor had always thought of this library as far superior to the library at Durmstrang. Durmstrang housed plenty of shady books about the dark arts, if you cared about those. Krum never really cared about those, however, so he found the library quite useless. The Hogwarts library had at least one book for every subject you could imagine. He understood why Madam Pince was so paranoid about the students handling her books.

Viktor breathed deeply and thought to himself how much Hermione smelt of this library. Krum shook his head deeply, as if he was afraid of that thought. It wouldn't do well to have that happen, he told himself. He looked down his crooked nose at the rich, finished wood of the table. The burns in the wood told of late night studying. It made Krum feel at home.

When Krum tore himself from the library, he opened the door to the hard sound of someone hitting the floor. "Watch where you're going jackass!" Echo Narcula's voice cut through the air.

"I am very sorry. I did not know that there vas anyvon there." Krum quickly apologized dropping down to one knee to help her up.

"I am sorry to snap. It was a surprise to have a door swing out at me."

"Yes, vell." Krum's uncomfortable nature was bleeding into the conversation. Without saying another word Echo swept past him and headed down the stairs that were near the entrance of the library. As Krum had nothing better to do he followed her. Echo went down about three flights of the beautifully carven staircase and went into the Great Hall. Krum looked at his watch and realized he had spent longer in the library than he had thought and was surprised to find it was time for dinner.

Krum went into the large hall he had been in before. The house tables were all setup and the professor's table was in the same place it had always been. Krum looked questionably at the top table to see where he should sit. There were only two open seats, one by Trabou and the one right next to it at the end of the table. Viktor knew he was expected to sit next to the grizzly old man. He took the seat at the end. Food appeared before them. The aroma of the food the house elves prepared was enough to make a full man hunger.

Krum picked at his food. Dumbledore made active conversation with Echo. Snape snarled at Trabou, Trabou snarled at Snape. Hermione was missing. Viktor wasn't terribly surprised at that. Hermione much preferred to get lost in a book than to be conscious to the restraints of time and the feeling of her stomach.

When Krum had eaten enough not be considered rude, he excused himself from the table and tried to find his room. He realized he should have paid a lot more attention to the direction Trabou had taken him. Instead of going back and asking for help, Viktor found it much more enjoyable to wander around and hope he found what he was looking for. His head was too full of thoughts to really think about anyone in depth. Thoughts of his new job, of his boss, of this castle, and of Hermione.


	4. Morning life

The next day blossomed with a gentlecomforting touch. Hermione woke to a pale light shining in her room. The four-poster bed was against the wall that looked out over the Forbidden Forest. The bed was made of deep maple and had intricate scenes carved into it. Pictures of creatures happily running through life and strong poses of powerful wizards basking in the products of their spells came alive in the wood. The sheets were a deep burgundy silk that moved and flowed like water. The mattress and pillows were a perfect mixture of firmness and softness. Last night's sleep had been one of the best Hermione had encountered in so many nights. She breathed in the certain smell that Hogwarts had in the morning; it was different than any other time of day. As she floated in the smells she finally saw the place that would be her safe haven in the next year. Her room was beautiful. The room itself was large and spacious with a gargantuan bookshelf in the corner. The bookshelf was half full of books Hermione had only heard of. Excitement flooded into her chocolate brown eyes. A smile played across her delicate features. Dumbledore knew that this would be a perfect gift and comfort to someone as studious as her.

She was finally able to pull herself away from the beauty of the books and drag herself to the Great Hall to enjoy some breakfast before her trip to Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade with Echo. Smells of delicious food reminded Hermione that she had skipped dinner last night, voting instead to wander around Hogwarts until she was too tired; she could barely stand. She saw nothing but the bed when she walked into the room that night. The warm breads and ripe fruits made the young teacher's mouth water. Only Dumbledore was at the table when she arrived. He greeted her with a tip of the long hat that sat perched on top of his head of long silver hair. "I trust you enjoyed your room and the books." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled knowingly.

"Thank you, Professor. The books are astounding. I haven't even heard of some of them. I fear though that they'll taunt me until I have devoured them all." A faint tinkle of a laugh escaped from Hermione's mouth as Snape came billowing into the room. He was soon followed by Echo, who was apparently not a morning person. She seemed to be walking in a fog,barely acknowledging any thing or anyone. She took a seat next to Hermione and immediately downed an entire cup of coffee. After about two more cups, Echo started to become the smiling mystery she always was.

Once everyone was about halfway through breakfast, a few owls came and dropped packages at Trabou, Echo, and Flitwick's plates. Trabou's package had a few trinkets left over from home. Flitwick received some sort of sugary candy. Echo's package had air holes and moved. Hermione assumed that this was the package she was forced to wait for before they could go shopping. Hermione finished first and shot Echo a look that said "Hurry up so we can go." Echo shot her a look back that said "I need more coffee".

Hermione returned to her room to change into something that would be a little easier to conceal her wand and a few other precautions, in case a Death Eater got it into his head to take her on alone. When she arrived back at the entrance hall, she found Viktor waiting for her. "Dumbledore thought if vould be a gud idea if I vent vith you for protection." Krum said softly.

"Oh, ok." Hermione was worried about the awkwardness of the situation and the strain it would put on the trip. Echo did not know that there had ever been something between the two of them.

"Hey, ready to go Hermione?" Echo asked bounding down the stairs. She was in robes of a deep purple that darkened her eyes and the red streaks in her hair. Now that Hermione thought of it, Echo Narcula reminded her a great deal of Nymphadora Tonks. Tonks had recovered from Sirius' death by falling in love with his best friend, Remus. They had both died in a very tough battle against an extensive army of Death Eaters. It had been a bad loss for the Order. It was still hard to think about it.

"Hello, Echo. I hope I am not intruding." He said it just a softly, but this time there was a hint of disdain resonating through his voice.

"I figured that we would be forced to have a chaperone. 'The Chosen One's best friend and all." Echo easily said.

"According to Hogwarts, A History, we can't Apparate inside the grounds of Hogwarts. So I thought we would start in Hogsmeade, I have a few things on order for the seventh years." Hermione said in a rush.

"Why not? I heard The Three Broomsticks has some of the best Firewhiskey in all of England." Echo said excitedly.

"I don't care for whiskey, in any form." Krum snarled.

"Yes, well, let's go." Hermione said, ending the strained silence that filled the room. The trio set off on the green grass and towards the prestigious gates that led to the school.

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Yes I finally updating. I am so sorry that I haven't updated. In my defense I was gone for about a month. I want to thank all that have reviewed, especially cto4Wrin11989. I couldn't agree with you more about the pace of most stories. It seems like they are immeadiately falling in love and that just doesn't seem like life.

Also I don't own


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